Apr
15
Who Invented These Words?
Posted by admin under YOUR
The following words are a tiny sample of over 2,035 (!) that were introduced (invented, coined) by one person. Do you know, or can you guess who made ‘em up? (Answer below…)
cranny
forefathers
aggragate (verb)
beautified
abstemious
antipathy
critical
dwindle
extract
horrid
vast
excellent
eventful
barefaced
assassination
lonely
leapfrog
indistinguishable
well-read
zany
and countless others, including “countless.”
This person was especially prolific at attaching the prefix “un” to words to form previously unconsidered forms:
unmask, unlock, untie, unhand, unveil…..and over 300 others.
So who was this uncanny wordsmith?
To be, or not to be the correct answer….That is the question….
William Shakespeare
(Source: Shakespeare, The World as Stage, by Bill Bryson)
April 17th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Greg,
I adore etymology - it’s a sickness, I guess. Thank you for the posting because I had no idea that Shakespeare had created that many words. I think he and I would have gotten along splendidly.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I’m glad to see your brain wanders in delight all over the universe as mine tends to do when I let it. And thanks for the info about The Bard.
BTW, my sister accidentally created a word when she was 11 that I thought should be in the dictionary: “terrid.”
Many smiled to you!